The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-08-20
THE PuLQuE or MEXICO.

&f0potoss0o boo V0outso0 q the Notaom0A
beverage q Oar southern Nsighbers.
Pulque (pcolkay) is . fermented juice
OF the Mexican plant called maguey
(magay), the American agave or aloe.
When the plant is from six to eight
years old it 10 ready for use. It is pre-
pared by making deep incision in the
center, reaching the heart and leaving
but . thick outside rind, which forms
kind of well of one foot in depth and
one and one-fourth in diameter. Five
or six months afterward this rind il re-
moved and = sap begins to flow. This
sap, which Is of . yellow color, is very
sweet and Is called agua-miel (honey-
water). The leaves are cut away on
one side and . man furnished with
tanned hog-skin and long gourd
draws out the liquid and pours it into
the skin until it is entirely full A
small portion Of agua-miel left for ten
or twelve days in barrel or a skin is
fermented. and serves a. the base or
mother-pulque (pulque-madre) for as
long time as it may be wanted. 1t
only needs to be supplied with fresh
agua-miel every day. A good maguey
produces from ten to twelve pints Of
liquid daily for longer than five months.
the value of . days liquid varying
from ten to fifteen cents; thus when
maguey is ready for use its value is not
less than @l5. Some eighty years ago
a farmer who planted from 10000 to
$4,000 magueys was sure to make
fortune for his children. but at the pres
ent day there has been q considerable
decrease in the value Of this plant, the
principal causes being the carelessness
of the farmers, the heavy taxes paid to
the government and the adulteration
Of the liquid. The Mexicans do not
now make 10 much use of this plant as
their ancestors did. It is well known
that the Azsecs used the fibrous leaves
Of the plant in making fine cloth and
strong cords. They also wrote their
hieroglyphics on paper made of the
same leaves, specimens of which can be
found in tho museums Of Europe and
America It can be said that the aloe
was food and drink, clothing and writ
ing material for the Aztecs. 1t is sur
prising how nature concentrated SO
many different advantages in one single
plant, and the skill manifested in
developing these advantages shows the
degree of civilization which that race
had already acquired.
This plant was introduced into Eu-
rope shortly after the conquest Of
Mexico. The first garden which re-
ceived it was that of Padua in Italy
(1516), but it is found both as an orna-
ment in tho front yards Of many houses
of Europe and America, and as an OBJ
ject of study in the botanical gardens.
In Mexico, Central and South Amer
lea are several species of the plant; in
Mexico alone l have seen over five
different kinds. In the State of Oaxaca
a maguey from which green candle,
resembling the sperm, is made. Another
in Jalisco from which the celebrated
tequila (brandy) is extracted.
When pulque is mixed and fermented
with grapes, oranges, pineapples and
other fruits, it has sweet and agreea-
BILE taste not only to the Mexican, but
to the foreign palate as well. There is
a kind of ice cream (helados) made of
pulque and eggs, or vanilla, straw
berries, ETC., which has an exquisite
flavor, and forms one of the delicacies
in many Mexican families.
Pulque is the common and cheapest
drink in the City Of Mexico. and in the
neighboring States Of Puebla, Hidalgo
and others, but not of the whole
country, as there are in the north and
south part Of Mexico people who do
not know any thing about pulque-
A preparation to preserve the pulque
for a long time of which Senior Alfonso
Herrera, President of the National Pre-
paratory School Of the City Of Mexico.
is the author. consists in mixing one
third of alcohol with two-thirds of this
liquid. leaving it to rest for some time
and then putting it in bottles. After
thus prepared pulque was exhibited at
the Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876
and at Paris ia 1873. However, as this
beverage has not proved agreeable to
the foreign taste its consumption is re-
duced to Mexico aloDe.-C D. Olipares.
in Csncinmati Times.
Discrimination in Words.